The Third-Gen Chaebol Becomes a Genius Actor

Chapter 97: Return?

Chapter 97 < Return? >

“Yeon Seo, you said you went to the hospital. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, it was just a health checkup.”

“Really? You don’t drink much, do you?”

“No.”

Ryu Changhoon, who played the role of Father Peter, picked up a water bottle. Neither of them enjoyed drinking much, so they filled their glasses with water.

“Yeon Seo, how are you doing?”

“Why did you go to the hospital? Are you sick somewhere?”

Everyone who met his eyes asked Yeon Seo how he was. Yeon Seo couldn’t understand why his hospital visit was such a big deal, so he just drank water.

He quietly asked the actor next to Ryu Changhoon, who was sipping his drink.

“By the way, senior, you said this is your first time acting in a media, right?”

“What, senior? Just call me comfortably.”

The actor who played the role of the cult leader, Jung Hyunsik, smiled sheepishly. He had lost 10kg for a scene that didn’t even last an hour.

“I was so excited to follow along, but I suffered a lot. Director Choi tricked me.”

“But you’re getting a good response these days, hyung.”

Ryu Changhoon answered with a smile. Jung Hyunsik had a strong presence on the screen, even in a short scene. He thought he would die early as a minor role in Raphael’s childhood, but he had to do a suffocating burn makeup as the cult leader.

‘This is experience.’

But even in that short scene, some people thought he appeared a lot, which showed his screen influence. Yeon Seo thought he couldn’t imitate this atmosphere and weight easily.

“I’ve been doing theater all my life, but I get so nervous in front of the camera.”

“You didn’t look like that. How about coming to the media for good?”

“I’m thinking about it. My kid will be a senior next year.”

Jung Hyunsik answered that, but he glanced at Yeon Seo’s face.

He debuted in the media with ‘Evil Spirit’, and he didn’t read the news much, but he knew enough about Yeon Seo from the talk around him. He had to live in a village where the internet didn’t explode to not hear about Yeon Seo.

‘As expected, rumors are exaggerated.’

But the rumors were not reliable. Even during the filming, Yeon Seo took care of the staff and actors without showing it. Jung Hyunsik thought he was a good-looking and young guy with a good personality.

“Then come to Daehakro sometime.”

“Can I? I was curious about stage acting.”

“By the way, you said your acting teacher was Hyunjeong, right? She also had her first performance in our theater group.”

Jung Hyunsik said to come and play, but it was half lip service. Yeon Seo was thinking about his schedule and when he could go to Daehakro.

“But if I go, there will be so many people.”

“It’s good for us if people gather. Our kids won’t be able to handle it, so come when we practice.”

There were a lot of past materials left in the future era. He often watched the videos of theater and musicals, but he didn’t have a chance to see the stage acting on the spot. He hesitated to go and see it because of the crowd.

“By the way, what do you think, Hajoon? The meat is cooked.”

Hong Mina woke up Seo Hajoon, who was staring blankly at the meat.

“Ah, no, I was thinking about the ending. I was a bit uneasy.”

“The ending?”

“I get that a part of the devil went into Father Leo’s body and sent the cult leader away. But then, does Leo live with a part of the devil inside him?”

Ah, I was curious about that too. Yeon Seo nodded. Ryu Changhoon looked over their shoulders.

“You can ask the person behind you.”

The three leads looked up, and two people who were going around the table and greeting them bowed their heads.

“What are you talking about?”

“Hello.”

It was Director Choi Sanghoon and Writer Lim Yena. Lim Yena, who couldn’t be seen except for the reading because she was writing the script, had dark circles under her eyes from the overnight work.

When Seo Hajoon brought up the ending, Lim Yena smiled faintly and said she knew it.

“Oh, that? Actually, Father Raphael, who awakened late, performed an exorcism and drove out the devil that was in the cult leader and Father Leo.”

“But it didn’t turn out as I thought.”

Why didn’t it work? Yeon Seo squinted one eye.

“I could have given you more money if you were short of production costs.”

“Oh, our investor has plenty of money.”

The people nearby exclaimed and admired Yeon Seo’s words. Director Choi rubbed his hands and answered exaggeratedly.

“Actually, we didn’t have enough time to process the CG. And if we cut it too much, we would be immortalized on the internet, and we didn’t want that.”

“That’s horrible.”

“We put a lot of effort into the first and second episodes. I thought we wouldn’t be able to maintain that quality.”

‘Evil Spirit’ was first talked about because Yeon Seo was the lead and the CG was high quality. Yeon Seo, who was the investor, didn’t want to lower the quality at the end because he was pressed for time.

“And the top also said the exorcism scene was boring and dull, so we changed it to action at the end. It was really hard.”

“There were quite a few scenes that were cut because of that.”

(There’s only one person who’s both an investor and an actor in ‘Evil Spirit’, right? Yoo Yeon Seo?)

“Do you know him, hyung-nim?”

The other person chuckled. Who doesn’t know Yoo Yeon Seo these days… However, the problem was that the rumors around him were not good.

Everyone in the industry knew that Yoo Yeon Seo had almost replaced the director by using his investor rights.

“Did that happen? He didn’t look like that at all…”

(Well, since you say so, I’ll think about it.)

“Sure, come visit our theater sometime.”

(Okay.)

Jung Hyun-sik hung up the phone with a pleasant smile and got into a taxi.

***

The well-made horror exorcism drama ‘Evil Spirit’ ended with its highest ratings ever

Yoo Yeon Seo’s final comment “A work that gave me a new experience, I learned a lot.” (‘Evil Spirit’ finale)

Lim Hye-ju, the sister of Lim Seung-hyun and one of the staff of ‘Love Letter’, stared at the computer screen with bloodshot eyes. The screen was full of Yoo Yeon Seo in a priest’s outfit.

“This is amazing…”

She saved several photos of the same scene with different edits. She felt her phone ringing rapidly as if someone was calling and leaned back on her chair.

-OMG the teaser is out!

-Go to YouTube ASAP

Lim Hye-ju, who was still saving Yoo Yeon Seo’s drama screenshots on her hard disk even after midnight, hurriedly entered YouTube after seeing the other member’s post.

[The Deprived People Season 2] He’s finally here! Character teaser ‘Lee Tae-o’

#Yoo Yeon Seo

“Huh…”

Lim Hye-ju took a short breath and played the video.

The first scene showed a man walking on the street from a distance. The street had a strange and mysterious atmosphere, as if it was a mix of cyberpunk and dystopian backgrounds.

It looked like dawn, with no people on the street. Steam rose from the sewer. A stray dog barked loudly at his presence.

(Shh…)

The screen only showed his nose and below, but his sharp jawline, slightly wet long hair, and his index finger touching his lips were graceful.

(Life is boring if you’re normal.)

Yoo Yeon Seo’s languid voice flowed as a narration. The guitar and drum made a short sound, increasing the concentration of the video.

Every time he walked, his bare feet touched the floor, making a clack clack sound. His movements were like dancing, swaying.

(Don’t you need something missing to have humanity?)

He put a steel rod, nicknamed a paru, on his shoulder and hit it against the stair railing, as if playing an instrument, while roaming the street.

(Well, I belong to the deprived side…)

And then, the exciting rock music exploded and the scene changed quickly. He moved gracefully but clumsily in the action scenes, and he didn’t stop there. He hummed a song while roaming the messy street.

(What, what are you?)

(Me?)

The camera that only showed his nose and below slowly moved up. The man with long hair that reached his shoulders, Lee Tae-o, tied half of his hair in two braids, which looked ridiculous, but he also looked good in it, as if it was fashion.

(Who do you think I am?)

‘Evil Spirit’ was a terrestrial drama that achieved decent ratings for the three major broadcasting stations, which had been stagnant due to the competition from OTT platforms and cable TV.

The rights to air the drama were sold before the broadcast under the names of Yoo Yeon Seo and Seo Ha-joon, and it caused a small syndrome in Japan, where it aired simultaneously.

Yoo Yeon Seo brought a chair and sat next to Director Choi, who was next to me.

“You should have told me.”

“Well, it was a decent ending, wasn’t it? It depends on the interpretation of the viewers. Will Kim Leo, who still has a piece of the devil, become the second cult leader? Or will he follow in the footsteps of Father Peter?”

“Why did Raphael leave without hesitation when he knew that?”

“Yes, that’s the question.”

Yoo Yeon Seo didn’t like open endings, endings that left a lot to think about. When he watched a movie or a drama that lingered in his mind in the future, he wondered what the director’s intention was. He had given up on finding the information because it took a long time.

Besides, he thought that only the creator could make a complete ending, and it was selfish to keep it to himself.

“If they push us from above, we can go for season 2.”

But he didn’t completely deny the words of the director and the writer. He maintained the tension with the director’s direction, even when the setting seemed to lose its strength.

“Actually, the initial setting of ‘Evil Spirit’ was that everyone has evil in their hearts… That was the intention.”

The topic of the conversation started with ‘Evil Spirit’

“I liked ‘Speaking, Listening, Writing’.”

“Oh, I like that director’s work too.”

The conversation continued lively about movies. Except for the three main actors, they were mostly theater actors, and their passion for acting was so great that Yoo Yeon Seo enjoyed playing along.

“Everyone, the second round is on Yeon Seo!”

“Wow!”

Yoo Yeon Seo decided to go home early, just like he did with ‘Dreaming’.

“I have to go first.”

“Do you want me to give you a ride?”

“No, it’s okay. Come to our theater later.”

“Okay, take care.”

Jeong Hyun-sik was an actor who had a lot to learn. He closed his eyes as he got into the van, leaving him behind.

The left-behind Jeong Hyun-sik looked at his phone ringing and smiled as if he was happy.

“Hey, brother, long time no see!”

(It’s been a while. I watched your drama. Are you going to the media for good?)

“Well… My daughter likes it.”

(Well, you and Chang-hoon have enough acting skills to be late.)

Jeong Hyun-sik had made a living on the theater stage, but he couldn’t compare his income to when he acted in the media.

(That’s good. How about you star in my movie?)

“Are you coming back soon?”

(I have to.)

“Choose your production company well this time. Don’t trust your relatives too much.”

He heard the other person laugh at Jeong Hyun-sik’s words.

(It’s a headache. I want to get some proper investment and make something cool this time.)

“Since it’s your comeback after a long time, you should do that. Um… Speaking of investment, do you want me to introduce you to someone I know?”

(Someone you know?)

“I got close to him while doing the drama. He’s a good person. And he can act well.”

His eyes blinked, shifting from the man lying on the floor to the screen. A wicked and playful smile on his lips, and then a sound effect of a pop, as the screen turned black.

(Do you want to know?)

A faint voice followed by the release date of ‘The Deprived People Season 2’.

Im Hye-ju calmly replayed the video from the beginning. After watching it about five times, she scrolled down to leave a comment.

-Crazy gap differenceㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Wow, what is this plot twist in one day

-I was suffering from the priest outfit of Yoo Yeon Seo just before, but then I got hit in the back of the head

-Yoo Yeon Seo’s gap difference is insaneㅠㅠ

-He’s crazy, he’s Lee Tae-oh himself

-He killed every scene in ‘Evil’, but this is good tooㅅㅂ

Yoo Yeon Seo’s fans, who were still lingering on Raphael the priest in ‘Evil’, had to stay up all night because of Lee Tae-oh’s opposite appearance.

And of course, this video topped the real-time popular videos.